I 
I 
that it died, and said, “Too late!” to the 
rescuer. Some months ago a Brazil parrot, 
of large size, was at our house iu a cage oc¬ 
cupied by two small paroquets. Although 
he was as large as four of the paroquets, 
they would pick at and worry him so that 
he had no pence. He would, however, some¬ 
times get out of patience, and turn upon 
them, and give a loud, threatening bark, like 
a dog, which: would make them “ mind 
their p’s and q'a ” for awhile. He was not 
They hover over flowers like humming birds 
during the day time, (or evening, as do also 
the Deilephilaj) in the months of July and 
August. Their caterpillars bear a general 
resemblance to those of the genus Sphinx, 
and, as far as they are known, seem to pos¬ 
sess the same habits. 
What is remarkable, this insect, (boxed up 
with the letter, traveling all the distance,) 
was, when I opened the box on the evening 
of the 14tli, letter dated 10th inst., quite live¬ 
ly, and would no doubt have been 
able to take the whig, had I al¬ 
lowed it to do so. These, out 
West, differ very slightly in their 
under wiugs, but so trifling that 
a friend, who saw my colored ^ 
drawing, (made at least ten years 
ago,) thought that I had just 
copied it from the insect under 
consideration, which was sub¬ 
mitted to his inspection while 
yet alive. 
The Hawk-Moths, (Sphinges,) 
embrace the potato and tobacco 
worms of different kinds. They 
undergo their change in the 
ground, and many are dug up iu 
the spring, when making garden. , 
I have quite a variety figured, 
both in the larval and perfect 
state; they are readily known by 
the horn on the caudal extremity, 
or shining, eye-like spot, in its 
stead, simply raised in rounded 
knol)—like a bit of sealing wax, 
such as the larvae of Satellitia, 
Acliemon, &c. 
Laucaster, Pa. J. Stauffer. 
^hnnrtiamtl 
quart contains of 231 cubic inelies, which 
equals 57.75 cubic inches ; then 57.75 cubic 
inches by 12.6 cubic inches=4.6 inches near¬ 
ly; therefore, a cup 4 inches in diameter 
must tie 4.0 inches in depth to contain a 
quart. Other measures can readily bo 
worked from this process.—D. 11.1\, Itush- 
■mile, ILL 
In answer to the inquiry of W. S. It., I 
would say that a rule for the solid contents 
of a cylinder may he found in Thomson’s 
“Practical Arithmetic,” page 350, section 
449. In Thomson's " Higher Arithmetic,” 
the same rule is found on page 392, section 
640. It reads, in both cases, “ Multiply the 
area ot the base by the higlit.” The gallon 
contains 231 cubic inches. Hence, the di¬ 
mensions of a gallon measure will Ik? as fol¬ 
lows:—6 inches in diameter, by 8 5-33 indi¬ 
es high. The quart, will be 4 inches in di¬ 
ameter by 4 19-82 inches high ; the pint will 
be 3 inches in diameter, by 4 3-32 inches 
high; the gill will be 2 inches in diameter, 
by 2 9-32 inches high.—n. i\ 
t iliitxxxnlist 
CYLINDRICAL CUPS 
THE HUIA BIRD 
The engraving herewith given is a protrait 
of a New Zealand bird—the male Iluia, or 
Ilderolochi Gouldii. Dr. Dif.kfenu.vcu thus 
describes their habits:—“ These birds, which 
the natives call Ellin, are confined to the 
bills in the neighborhood of Port Nicholson, 
whence the feathers of the tall, which are in 
great request among the uatives, are sent as 
presents to all parts of the island. The 
natives regard the bird with the straight and 
stout beak as the male, the other as the 
female. In three specimens I shot this was 
the case, and both birds are always together. 
These fine birds can only be obtained by the 
help of a native, who calls them with a shrill 
and loug-continued whistle, resembling the 
sound of the native name of the species. 
After an extensivo journey in the hilly forest 
in search of them, I had at last the pleasure 
of seeing four alight on the lower brandies 
of the trees near which the native accom¬ 
panying me stood. They came quick as 
lightuing, descending from branch to branch, 
spreading out the tail and throwing up the 
wings. Anxious to obtain them, I fired; but 
they generally come so near that the natives 
kill them with sticks. 
“ Their food consists of seeds and insects; 
of their mode of nidiflcation the natives could 
give mo uo information. The species is ap¬ 
parently becoming scarce, and will probably 
soon be exterminated.” 
\V r . B. Tegetmeier says:—“ The general 
description of the birds is soon written. 
The entire plumage is glossy green-black, 
excepting the white hand at the end of the 
tail, which is formed by the white tips of 
the tail feathers; the wattle, which is pres¬ 
ent in both sexes, a rich orange yellow; the 
legs and feet dark blackish horn color, the 
claws being lighter. 
“ The size of the bird approaches that of 
the rook, but it is more slender and graceful 
in its outline. The cause of the singular 
variation in the beak of the two sexes it is 
difficult to surmise. It has beeu suggested 
that the male employs his stout straight 
beak to peck away the rotten wood, and that 
the female uses her longer and more slender 
instrument to pick out the grubs; but this 
appears rather a far-fetched conclusion, and 
the male now at the Gardens has no diffi¬ 
culty in picking grubs out of decayed wood 
without the necessity for any female assist¬ 
ance. Tiie cause of the difference is a Dar¬ 
winian puzzle, which more accurate aud ex¬ 
tended information is required to solve.” 
THE PROBLEM FOR INSTITUTES. 
The following is the solution of the prob¬ 
lem in Rural New-Yorker, Nov. 12,1870, 
page 321. I think this is correct, from the 
fact that most persons do not consider that 
there are 144 cubic inches in one square foot 
of hoards. It is solved decimally:—10.25=- 
105,0625 inches, area of small end; 10.8= 
282,24 inches, area of large end; 105,0625x 
282,24—172,2, menu proportion; 105,0025x 
282,24x172,2=550,5025, sum of the area of 
the three bases of frustrmn; 559,6025x72= 
40284.18 cubic Inches solidity; 40284,18-:—144 
=279,7512-*- feet hoards. I cannot see why 
this problem has bothered so many “Insti¬ 
tutes,” as it is very simple, when you under¬ 
stand it.— Amos Thornburgh, Mooresmlle, 
Indiana. 
Answer to the lumber problem, on page 
321, Rural New-Yorker, Nov. 12:—10)4 
x 10^=105,0025, superficial contents of small 
end ; 16 4-5x10 4-5—282,24, superficial con¬ 
tents of large cud; 105,0025x382,24=387,- 
8025, contents of each cud added; 887,3025-:- 
2=193,05125, superficial contents of section 
at middle of stick; 193,65125x12x18=41828,- 
07, solid contents in cubic inches; 41828,67 
-:~1728—24 1321-0400, answer.—W m. M. 
Richardson, Frcdonia, N. V. 
Inclosed, please find solution to problem 
on page 281, Rural Nov. 12:— Tlie volume 
of a fruslrum of a pyramid Is equal to the 
sum of the volumes of three pyramids, whose 
bases are the upper and lower base, aud a 
mean proportional between the two bases. 
The answer to the problem is, 28 cubic feet, 
540.18 cubic inches.— Abner Wilson, Te- 
cumseh, Mich. 
PARROTS AND PAROQUETS, 
14159305—or 355-118; then divide this area 
into the number of cubic inches in the re¬ 
quired measure, which will give the depth. 
The standard unit of liquid measure in the 
United States is the wllle gallon, which con¬ 
tains 281 cubic inches, ami weighs 58872. 
1754 grains, and equals nearly 8 1-3 pounds 
Cut-Worms. 
The Practical Farmer recommends the 
DEILEPHILA LINEATA 
EDUCATIONAL NOTES 
I have captured what I supposed was a 
humming bird, its motions, darting about 
from flower to flower, were almost exactly 
like a humming bird. I have noticed a pair 
of them in my flower garden for two or 
three weeks; but they seldom make their 
appearance until near sundown. I have 
often heard them humming among the flow¬ 
ers when it was so dark I could not see 
them. I never have seen anything like it 
before. If you will tell me, through the 
Rural New-Yorkeu what it is, I shall feel 
greatly obliged. It has lost considerable of 
its brilliant color in capturing.—J. P. Clay, 
Winona, Minn. 
The foregoing letter will explain my rea¬ 
sons for sending you the drawing of a cater¬ 
pillar, (Fig. 1,) chrysalis, (Fig. 2,) and imago, 
(Fig. 3,) of the beautiful Ddlephila lineata. 
1 was under the impression that 1 could re¬ 
fer the writer, for a full history, to Mr. Har¬ 
ris; blit, on examination, Harris, on page 
328, simply says: — “ The caterpillar of the 
while - lined Morning Sphinx (Deilephila 
lineata) feeds upon purslane, and turnip 
leaves;" and that is all he says about it. 
Fitch makes no mention of it, nor, indeed, 
Say, nor any author in my possession. But 
I most surely saw it figured elsewhere than 
in my own book. I have found them on the 
wing June 5; “never later than Sept.3d.” 
The chrysalis July 13th; caterpillar full 
grown July 25th. 1 find I have to conliue 
myself to my own description. 
The top of the head is black, with a white 
spot at its union with the large thorax; a 
white stripe above each eye; the thorax is 
striped; the abdomen dorsully spotted with 
black, brownish and white spots; the fore 
wing has a light buff baud from the root of 
the wing to the tip, mottled on the margins 
with black and brown markings; the hind 
wings are black at their insertion with black 
margin. The intermediate space is rose red 
and pale, yellowish buff. The caterpillar is 
green, with a pair of yellow stripes dorsally, 
having ou each joint an enlarged oval spot, 
. edged with black; the spiracles are also 
yellow, and bordered with black. 
They sometimes feed on the grape, hut are 
\ rather rare. They belong to what are called 
a the hog caterpillars, and are closely allied to 
^ the clear-winged sphinges, like Sesiapelasgus 
L mid diffinis , which are distinguished by their 
g transparent wings and their fan-shaped tails. 
About Grammar, iu Rural New-Yorker 
of October 
I would kindly ask E. A. II., through 
the columns of the Rural New-Yorker, 
what he and “ Gould Brown, and other 
authors,” think of Wellses Goatses skins, for 
Wells’ Goats’ skins. 
'*A Problem for Scholars.” 
M. II. Garland sends, us an answer to the 
problem by Joel Grimes, in Rural New- 
Yorker, Nov. 12, page 321 :—290,470,805 
square feet. 
INDIAN SUMMER, 1870 
Our Indian Summer, which closed a few 
days since, was a long term of delightful 
weather, with two or three temporary inter¬ 
ruptions. It will he interesting to note the 
character of the coming winter, with refer¬ 
ence to what has long been noticed and re¬ 
marked by observers, that when a severe 
hurricane occurs In the region of the West 
Indies iu the fall of the year, the cold weath¬ 
er of the wiitfer following is Unusually steady 
and uninterrupted. If this he the effect in 
the present instance, our next bi-monthly 
tropical term, due the fore part of January, 
will probably be delayed just one month. If 
the above observation be correct, it would 
seem to strongly favor the idea of tropical 
curreulB, as advanced under “ Indian Sum¬ 
mer,” iu the Rural New-Yorker lor Oc¬ 
tober 8. Iu admitting this theory, any ob¬ 
server Avottkl conclude that these currents 
were at equal distances from one another; 
ho would also notice an intermediate partial 
current at each interval; hut one or more 
principal currents were sometimes shifted, 
wholly or in part, to adjacent partial ones. 
This shifting process may he noticed once or 
twico nearly every year, the most probable 
cause of which we might suppose to he great 
atmospheric disturbances, us the raging of 
storms and tornadoes, within the tropics 
north of the equator, at or near the source 
of these northward flowing currents. 
Edenvllle, Iowa, Nov., 1870. R. C. 
THE HUTA BIRD - HKTEROLOCHA GOULDII 
up to the highest standard of whiteness. So, application of refuse salt, broadcast, at the 
when she came out to hang them up, the rate of six to eight bushels to the acre, ns u 
watchful bird would pretty loudly volunteer remedy for cut-worms. Salt seems particu- 
the cry, “ Yaller does! yaller does!” larly obnoxious to every form of insect life, 
I was told, a few days since, of a parrot and spread broadcast on a freshly-plowed 
which was chased by a dog, and screamed surface, often has a powerful effect. Added 
out “Help!" but was caught by the dog to its mechanical and fertilizing effect upon 
before help came, and was so badly hurt I soil should cause it to he more used, than it is, 
(avoirdupois) of distilled water, at 39° 83' 
Fahrenheit, tlio barometer at 30 inches. A 
pint of water is generally considered one 
pound. 
To find the dimensions of a quart cup, as¬ 
sume a diameter; let it be 4 inches; then, 
according to rule, of 4=2; (2) 2=4; 4x3. 
1416, or 355-113=12.6 inches nearly. A 
October 30ih, nt Nashville, Tenn., the Magno¬ 
lia gnmdi flora and perpetual roses were In full 
bloom —bo a correspondent says. 
